


Escape

by xLiaLiorax



Category: Transformers Animated, Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Biting, Bittersweet Ending, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Drama & Romance, Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional Manipulation, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Feels, Family Reunions, Fictional Religion & Theology, Flirting, Forbidden Love, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Healthy Recovery, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Injury Recovery, Japanese Mythology and Folklore References, Late Night Conversations, Leaving Home, Major Original Character(s), Mental Breakdown, Mental Link, Mild Language, Mind Control, Mind Manipulation, Past Relationship(s), Pheromones, Poisoning, Possession, Post Season 2 ep 10 Black Friday, Prowl has violet optics because I think that's a cool headcanon, Prowl's Origin Story, ProwlRachnia cuz why not?, Psychological Drama, Psychological Trauma, Rare Pairings, References to Depression, Romance, Running Away, Secret Relationship, Starvation, Strained Friendships, Suicidal Thoughts, Team as Family, Why Did I Write This?, Yoketron raised Prowl and Jazz as teenagers AU, leaving the team, mental health recovery, venom - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:33:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27112000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xLiaLiorax/pseuds/xLiaLiorax
Summary: A few weeks after being poisoned by Blackarachnia while trying to track down an escaped Meltdown, Prowl tries to process what happened and old wounds from his past at the CyberNinja compound resurface along with that confusion. His master's death and the femme fatale, techno-organic begin to consume his thoughts as well as his perceived failure to prove himself a good team player. Eventually, this causes him to snap and take refuge in the Japanese countryside. However, grief isn't the only thing poisoning his mind and that thing is more than happy to lure him towards danger.
Relationships: Blackarachnia/Prowl
Kudos: 5





	1. Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! I'm Lia! I'm new to the fanfic world. I just binge watched Animated and I can't believe how this show got slept on! Crazy, huh? Anyways, I may have developed a teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy crush on a certain ninja-bot and may have denied the fact that he died in season three. I also think having a techno-organic spider being voiced by Cree Summer is one of the coolest characters ever. So this rare pair is the result of my new favorite show and I based this storyline on some major stuff I went through a while back. It'll have a bittersweet ending cuz not all roads to recovery are sunshine and rainbows but they got a lot of hope when someone has your back. Enough sappy stuff, I'll let y'all read!

It has been awhile since the Autobots last encounter with the Decepticon techno-organic. After fleeing to Dinobot Island, all seemed quiet. Too quiet. Megatron and the rest of his army seemed to go dormant almost to offline standards which left Optimus and the skilled ninja on edge. Bulkhead,Bumblebee and Sari didn’t mind. It meant more time for video games and hanging out around the rest of Detroit without running into trouble. But Prowl and his leader were still wary. Prowl seemed to withdraw even more from the group as he spent more and more time in his berth room meditating and gathering up as much information on spiders as he could. Optimus began to worry as he saw his friend skipping daily energon meals to study and stay in when the rest of his friends were going into town.

Ratchet picked up on this strange behavior too and got agitated with his neglect of his health.   
“Ya can’t stay in that room forever, Prowl. It just ain’t no good for anyone. Besides if the ‘Cons come back, we need ya on the battlefield. Optimus is startin’ to get worried! Can ya at least get some fresh energon in your system?” The medic said at the berth room door.

Prowl hesitated to open the door but ultimately decided to face the medic. “Alright. If you insist, I eat. I’ll only do it because you care.” He gave a faint grin. 

“Hey, I ain’t all gushy like OP, ninja-bot. I’m only giving ya lunch because Prime ordered me too. Now take it before I shove it down your vocalizer. Yer not lookin’ so good nowadays.” Ratchet sighed.

“What do you mean,Ratchet? I am still the same mech as I’ve always been.” Prowl said.   
That was weird. Why would Ratchet say that? He had only passed on a couple of cubes of energon on occasion but nothing too severe. He needed time for his studies. He needed to clear his head and understand why he was so disturbed about the Decepticons’ disappearance, especially Blackarachnia’s. He hadn’t thought about her since the time she tried to poison him and Bumblebee with her venom while investigating Meltdown’s escape from prison. But why? Why was he thinking of her now?

“Hello? Earth to ninja-bot!” Ratchet waved a servo in front of Prowl’s optics. 

“Forgive me, Ratchet. I was lost in thought.” Prowl blinked his optics a few times.

“Ya see?! It’s like ya go off into another world in a single nanoklik!” Ratchet shoved the tray of energon in Prowls servos. “Here. Take it and make sure every last drop is in yer system. Not for me, not for Optimus but for you. Doin’ stuff like this will make you go offline sooner than yer supposed to.” Ratchet huffed and walked away.

Prowl closed the bedroom door and stared outside of the window and gasped at his reflection. “Primus, I guess I have been neglecting my needs since I’ve been conducting my research.” He said to the hollow, lanky figure that replaced his muscular and lithe frame he saw in a window

Outside in the main room, Optimus sat down with Ratchet and asked him to report back about Prowl’s well being.   
“He’s more of a hermit than he’s ever been Optimus. It’s like lookin’ at one of those Earth twigs. And I got a feeling them optics are grey behind that visor. Totally hollow. No room to really show any emotion or thoughts. Openly anyway. This has been goin' on for a while now and I ain't havin' it!” Ratchet said.

“Ratchet, I’ll confront Prowl myself next time. I want to set up a routine for him. I want to make sure he’s okay. So he gets the help he needs and has some normalcy in his daily activities. Do you have any ideas about what’s wrong with him?” Optimus frowned.

“Not really. Besides that whole deal with his mentor Yoketron. All I can really say is he’s dealing with grief. Younger bots tend to have a hard time processing loss and struggle to cope the right way. But...I agree. We have to keep tabs on him before he hurts himself even more. Grief can really suck the spark out of a bot and I speak from experience.” Ratchet nodded. 

“Agreed. The next morning we’ll do something. I don’t know what but we need something to distract him from thinking about Yoketron.” Optimus nodded.

Prowl held his head to the door and heard the last bit of their conversation. They couldn’t interfere with his studies. Especially Optimus. He’d stop at nothing to keep him out of his room and away from his findings on spiders due to Optimus’ history with the techno-organic that’s been on his mind for the past few cycles. He needed to escape. He needed to get away from Detroit and the world of Autobots and Decepticons to be alone.

The ninja then disabled his commlink and scanned for the Earth location that reminded him of his master’s dojo. He took his books and then ignited his jetpack to quietly fly out of the open ceiling. He stopped briefly and did a apologetic stare at the abandoned warehouse then flew to a place where he wouldn't have two mechs hovering over him like a carrier and sire.


	2. The Next Day

The next day, Optimus walked to Prowl’s berth room door and tapped on it. It was well into the afternoon and Prowl missed breakfast yet again. Sari came to see the team and take advantage of their few weeks of downtime by letting them go to the park. She wanted to host a small banquet on a cloth and store the foodstuffs in a wooden basket on the way. Optimus briefly searched his processor for the right name for it. 

Ah, a picnic. He thought. That was the right word. 

“Prowl? It’s Optimus. Come on out and get some energon. Sari and the rest of the squad are going out to the park. She wants us to have a picnic. It's similar to our regular refueling but it's outside on a blanket. It's strange but it could be a good opportunity for us to learn more Earth customs. It’s a real nice day to get some meditation in. Finding oneness with the environment around you is better with clear skies and a five percent chance of rain.” Optimus said politely coaxing his friend to enjoy the day.

There was no answer. Optimus sighed and sharpened his tone. “Prowl, you need to come out. You’ve been in your berth for weeks and haven’t gotten a single drop of energon in awhile. You need something to take your mind off of Yoketron. I know you miss him but you can’t shut us out like this. We’re all getting worried. It’s important to have a sufficient amount of fuel in your system and I don't want you to damage yourself! Forget it. We'll be waiting. I'll make sure Bulkhead doesn't drink all of the cases again. I'm not just saying this as your leader. I'm saying as your friend.” Optimus walked away from the door and made his way towards the garage exit.

“I'm sure he'll be out soon, Optimus. I think he just needs space.” Sari shrugged. Besides, we still have to pack the sandwiches!"

"Hm, alright. Let's roll out, Sari." He transformed into his firetruck alt-mode and they drove off.


	3. Journey Away

Prowl spent night after night flying out towards the place that matched the description he could think of. The Earth country Japan. He had heard that it’s countryside had beautiful open fields and some abandoned farmhouses he could hide in. When he landed, he dropped right down in a clear meadow and fell into recharge after burning through what little energon he had left. A tall figure hoisted him up and dragged him into a nearby, abandoned house, setting him on a soft mat of silk. Then the figure found spare matches and lit the fireplace by his limp body. They opened up the first aid kit they held by their waist and made a small opening in Prowl's arm. Sliding a tube into the cut, energon was flowing through his system, slowly replenishing him. When the mech began to stir, the figure fled to the backyard filled with pink, sakura blossom trees and a river in the distance.

When his optics began to flutter open, he felt warm and refreshed by whatever made him feel less disoriented.  
“W-where am I?” He said, rousing from his makeshift bed. The sheets were unearthly soft and flexible. He examined his right arm and the purple liquid flowing from a case of energon to an incision made on his arm. Prowl’s optics widened at the sheets and tube in realization.

She could be here. But how? Why? 

Prowl gingerly removed the tube to take out his shurikens and snuck up a flight of stairs. What was she planning on doing to him? There was an energon tube in his arm when he woke up from stasis. He felt more relieved. The pounding processor ache and overall heaviness in his body just...left. A weight in his chassis was lifted. He gazed in a shard of a broken hallway mirror to study the strong mech in his reflection. His processor gained clarity. He quickly took off his visor and gasped at his optics. Their brilliant violet color had faded with a developing energon deficiency and almost anemic symptoms but now they were as bright as a radioactive energon cube. Are his optics deceiving him? Was his mind malfunctioning? It seemed like he just healed in less than a megacycle. The sun didn't even rise yet and about a month of internal damage was gone.

But some questions remained. Why would she try to heal him if she hated him and the Autobots so much? Has she changed her mind? Did Dinobot Island become her moment of clarity after being rescued from Meltdown and his attempt to use her for his "transforming human" experiments?

He searched each room and found nothing but cobwebs. Stalking each room with composure, ready to strike if needed. “It seems that someone has an interest in redecorating.” He narrowed his optics at the webs. “They still look fresh. She must be close.” 

Prowl ran outside looking at the field of sakura trees and the river. Taking a brief look at the stars, the ninja whispered to them hoping his father figure was listening to him somehow. “Master, you would have loved this place. There is so much on this planet to see. Life to connect with.” He put his weapons away and sat down by the koi fish in the river. “I should’ve been studying more about you, spotted ones.” He chuckled at the fish going downstream. Suddenly, one of his books he carried on his way to the Japanese countryside fell out of a tree in front of him and he drew out his shurikens again. 

“Blackarachnia! I know you’re here. Come out and face me.” Prowl yelled. He stood on his pedes, anticipating an aerial lunge from the Decepticon femme.

“You’ve got some nerve coming here, Autobot.” Blackarachnia hissed slowly descending from the tree. Her clawed servos were ready to rip the spark out of his chamber and all four of her optics glowered at him with rage.

“I could say the same for you but I don’t wish to. You startled me and I acted on impulse. I’m only here to seek solace and to study in peace. I don't want to fight.” He said, putting his shurikens away. 

“Why should I believe that? You Autobots, aren’t exactly the most trustworthy beings in the universe.” She sneered.

“Before you do anything hasty, hear me out. When you poisoned Bumblebee and I in our last encounter, something in my processor shifted. It was like all that dominated my thoughts, was my need to understand and to get close. Even after Optimus gave us the antidote, I felt this unnerving feeling. I don't know how to explain it.” Prowl said.

“What do you mean?” Arachnia approached the ninja, wary of what he might do next.

“That day when you bit me, something. A memory perhaps, from a time before joining the Autobot cause, was triggered. A tale my master had told me stellarcycles ago.” Prowl said.

Arachnia’s frame loosened. She uncrossed her arms and stared at the Autobot with less contempt and more curiosity. 

“I thought Optimus was the one pulling around your leash.” Arachnia snorted. The Prime practically dragged him around everywhere like an organic canine. It was ridiculous and predictable. Who was she kidding? That was Optimus she was thinking about. Everything he does comes straight out of an Autobot Academy book. Her thoughts were interrupted by the awkward silence between them.

“No. Before meeting Optimus, I was a circuitsu and metallikato apprentice, studying those arts under Master Yoketron. To avoid being drafted into the war. Some bot attacked him and I watched his spark expire at that very moment. I tried using the last protoform in his dojo to save him but I failed. That’s the moment where my own spark expired. Life became a blur. A vengeful blur. My spark had nothing but retribution in its sights and I fear that it still does even in its metaphorical death.” He sat back down. 

Arachnia’s optics softened with understanding and sat down with him. “Hmm, if it bothers you that much, I’ll spare you from telling me the rest of your sob-story. But quick question. Is that “retribution in your spark” the reason you looked sick? You were almost out of energon when I plugged it into your arm.”

“I am uncertain. Why are you so concerned for me?” Prowl raised an invisible brow. This concern confused the cyber-ninja. Arachnia was cunning, bitter and disillusioned from her final moments as an Autobot and Elite Guard hopeful. The last time they saw each other, she nearly killed him. Despite being about the same height and build as him, she was an intelligent opponent and a fierce combatant. Why was she so willing to reveal herself so soon?

“I don't care about you. Why would I? If I ever plan on ridding myself of all this Autobot slag, including yours. I’d rather have the opportunity to watch you suffer while you’re still online when I do. Besides that, you just looked pitiful to me. If you decided to turn me in to Optimus and make me your lab experiment back at your base, I’d like to show them the consequences with your dismantled chassis.” Blackarachnia laughed with derision. 

“Hm, if you wish to do that. Go ahead. I’d rather not face the Autobots right now or ever, now that I’m here.” Prowl stared at the koi fish again. They leapt and bounded around a stick he was using to prod the water.

Blackarachnia looked puzzled and then picked up one of his books from his personal studies.

“Then what's this for? Are you going to experiment on me for the Autobots? Were you reading this to see what’s inside the organic half of me before you dissect me to pieces?!” Her face twisted into a horrified expression. 

“No! No, I would never experiment on mechs,femmes or any other intelligent creatures. Their lives are too precious for such invasive procedures. I believe it to be inhumane to harm a live creature in the name of science.” Prowl replied.

“I doubt an Autobot would refrain from experimenting on anything that threatens their superiority complexes. You’re about as brainwashed as all the others. Thinking all Autobots are saints and the Decepticons are all militaristic scum?! Well, guess what little Autobot?! They’re all terrible! Both Autobot and Decepticon alike! You’d realize that once you realize how they both hurt me.” Blackarachnia shot a web to a branch on the tree and ascended.

“Forgive me, Blackarachnia. Please listen! I-” Prowl ran to the tree.

“Save it!” She hid in the tree with her fangs ready to strike. She wasn't going to let a mech, an Autobot mech no less, sweet talk her into being experimented on. Nor was she going to confront Optimus. It wasn't worth digging up dead friendships.

“Alright. But before I return to the house, I would like to thank you for supplying me with energon. It has been a few cycles since I have had a healthy flow of it in my system. I don’t understand your logic saving me but thank you anyway.” Prowl nodded then walked away. 

Silently, Arachnia watched him go. She peered through the branches with teary-eyed optics and tried to hold back tears from pushing him away.

Slag, what have I done? She thought.


	4. Hey, Where's Nature-Boy?

Back in Detroit, Optimus was pacing back and forth in the main hall of the factory. It was getting dark and Team Prime just dropped Sari off at Sumdac Tower. It was a shame that Prowl missed out on the fun. It really was a perfect day to go outside and in Optimus' mind, the ninja would've been the first one to take advantage of it with a walk in the park or watching the rest of the team enjoy the picnic. After looking at the disorganized chaos in Prowl's typically neat room, Optimus feared the worst and ordered Bulkhead and Bumblebee to look for him. Hopefully Prowl was okay and the thought of his friend putting himself offline skimmed Optimus' mind. Then he quickly pushed it away when he heard Bulkhead and Bee return. The garage opened up and Bumblebee and Bulkhead came back with grim expressions on their faces. 

“Sorry, bossbot. Prowl isn’t at the park, the forest or on patrol.” Bumblebee said.

“Yeah. We looked all around Detroit. Even Dinobot Island.” Bulkhead nodded. 

“Yup. I wish the Dinobots were more eager to help us search. Grimlock nearly ripped my processor off when we landed! I could’ve been dinosaur food!” Bumblebee said.

Optimus continued to pace anxiously. He has to be around somewhere. He wouldn't just leave without warning. Even if Prowl deviated from plans or orders, he would always come around in the end. He just had to. A light bulb went off in his processor as he tried to come up with a way to find the ninja-bot.

“Ratchet! Scan for his commlink frequency or maybe use it to reach out to him. I want to know if he’s close.” Optimus said.

“Will do.” Ratchet conducted a scan on the computer searching for any sign of him using the commlink but to no avail. Then he The cyber-ninja’s trail was cold. The last trace of its activity was in his berth room. 

“I got nothing, Op. The last time the commlink signal went off was the last time we saw him. In his berth room. He isn’t popping up anywhere in Detroit or anywhere in a 300 mile radius. It’s like he went offline...” Ratchet's words trailed off as he stared at Optimus knowingly. 

“Or he disabled his commlink so we wouldn’t track him down or contact him if he went anywhere else.” Optimus said, holding up a disabled commlink.

“Why would Prowl do that? It’s not like him to disable it. Especially when he’s out on missions. He wouldn’t go AWOL for this long. What's gotten into him? He's acting like a total glitchhead! The Cons could come back any minute now and in the mental state he's in right now, he could get reduced to scrap!” Bumblebee said.

“I don’t not entirely sure either, Bee. But we’re going to find out and we're going to make sure he's safe.” Optimus said.


	5. Spider-Lady's "Me-Time" gets Interrupted By Poor, Clueless, Shuriken-Wielding Ninja

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm bad at titles and this fic is kinda messy but I'm just writing it for fun. The title basically explains it all. One bot tries to talk to another at a bad time. A REALLY bad time. Remember to knock before entering or in this case, knock on a sakura tree before going to the river.

The following morning, Prowl returned to the river in search of the techno-organic. He needed to figure out why he was so intrigued with her and why she rescued him. What caused her venom to have such potent effects on him even after receiving the antidote? He approached the sakura forest behind the large, green house and saw her laying down by the river. The book about arachnids was in her servo and he kept on walking. His cooling fans initiated and his internal energon rushed as he saw the techno-organic reading the book. His optics zeroed in on her feature while studying the book's contents. Not to mention the primitive part of his processor made him wonder what her chest plates looked like behind it. 

Look away. This is not you. You're not in your right mind. Rise above carnal urges and-who am I fooling? If it weren't for "processor over matter", I'd be a drooling idiot, fawning over her like any other mech. Use your head, Prowl! Remember that respect of all life and the love of all life doesn't come from these urges. TURN AROUND YOU, FOOL! Prowl's thoughts were racing in his processor. On the outside, his eyes locked on the techno-organic and he froze without saying a word.

Her helmet and upper armour were at her side. Laying in the tall, golden tufts of grass and sakura blossoms. She was focused on a page so intently. With all four optics wide open, receiving whatever information that intrigued her. 

Arachnia heard the low hum of his cooling fans and gasped. “Sweet Allspark!” She covered her chest plates even more with the book.

In an instant, Prowl’s optics widened and he turned his back away from her. A rush of energon, flooded his face. If he were human, he'd be as red as the faded paint on the house's iron roofing. Facing the faded, red and green Japanese home and its surrounding sakura trees in full bloom.

What has he done? Surely the femme would want to kill him now. He had tried to be courteous. Understanding the level of trauma the femme had experienced through his private conversations with Optimus, he tried to carry himself with caution. Aside from learning the importance of cunning when facing an adversary, Yoketron taught him to treat all life with utmost respect and care, especially the lives of femmes. He inwardly cursed himself for being so mindless and quietly prayed that Primus would spare his spark from being snuffed out by an embarrassed and enraged femme.

He continued looking at the endless sea of golden reeds and grass across the plain. Sighing and quietly reminiscing of his former master while looking at the tattered red flags of the house. His processor was swimming in jumbled thoughts and begging Primus to spare him from the wrath of Blackarachnia. 

He heard the femme rush to put the armour on and stand on her pedes. “You can turn around… Prowl.” She said in a soft voice.

His cooling fans were increasing their speed in a matter of nanokliks. If Arachnia wasn’t going to annihilate him, overheating would. She sounded more relaxed and almost pleased to see him. She wasn't mad that he saw her armourless? Impossible. She'd be the type to slaughter a bot for even thinking about her the wrong way. 

“You,you know my name.” He said with intrigue. He felt some strange power coming over him. As if her words were melting his processor as she spoke. His spark skipped a beat when she said his name. It sounded...nice. 

“Yeah, so? I know all about you Autobots.” Blackarachnia shrugged and looked at the mech hungrily.

“Never mind that. Um, h-how did? W-why did you?” He pointed at the book in her servo. 

“Hm. Someone’s glossa is tied. Oh, I saw this along with your other things. Your “research material” for spiders. Particularly black widows. What are you plotting, anyway?” She said coldly. Her fingers skimmed his shoulders teasing the mech with their light touch. Her actions and words seemed to contradict themselves. 

“N-Nothing. I am simply observing.” Prowl stammered as the techno-organic slowly circled him.

“If you are true to your words and not as treacherous as the rest of your Autobot friends. Tell me. Why are you studying spiders?” She grabbed the mech and pinned him to the sakura tree with her pinchers. 

“I’m not going to harm you, Blackarachnia! I am simply studying why you are in my thoughts. I suspect there is still residual venom in my system despite having new energon siphoned inside me and having Optimus administer the antidote all those cycles ago.” Prowl stayed completely still, displaying no resistance to the femme’s hostile attack. 

“So, Optimus didn’t send you? I still find that hard to believe, Prowl. If you aren’t here on Optimus’ behalf, why am I your concern? None of you Autobots care about freaks like me! ” She pushed her pinchers further into Prowl’s shoulders. Energon began to trickle down from them. He grit his denta and winced at the damage.

“I will not repeat my intentions again. I do not wish to harm you. I only want to know why you rescued me and why you decided to remain here with me instead of Dinobot Island. ” Prowl raised his servos in defense.

“I don’t need to tell you slag! Wait? You want to know why I left?” Arachnia eased up on his shoulders.

“Yes. It’s quite odd finding you here after our last battle. You’ve been the only thing on my mind besides memories of my teacher. I want to talk. I need something to offer me closure for at least one of the questions whirring through my processor. I don’t understand what brought either of us to this place but I’d like to make the most of it.” Prowl sighed.

Arachnia backed away from the tree. She was stunned but still keeping up her defenses. Her fanged denta were prepared for an assault on the mech’s chassis but she remained still.

“You really are a persistent mech, aren’t you? Does that explain you walking in on my reading?” She said with a smirk. If the hybrid couldn't scare the Autobot away, maybe she could make him combust and ditch him instead.

The low whir of the cyber-ninja’s cooling fans initiated again and Arachnia struggled to hold a chuckle as he stood flustered.

“T-that is besides the p-point, Arachnia.” He said as his chassis heated up more.

“Ha! I can see it in your visored optics, Autobot! You’re practically suffering heat exhaustion from your embarrassment. I don't blame you. Despite this hideous mutation, some of my redeeming qualities still survived.” She scoffed. 

“I apologize, Blackarachnia. I did not mean to disturb…” Prowl stuttered and clutched an aching shoulder.

“You’re probably screwy in the processor because of my venom. Aside from joint and circuit paralysis, it stimulates something in mechs like oxytocin and dopamine to the organic male. It hurts but in the back of their minds, they crave the high it gives them. The pleasure sends them over the edge nanokliks before they pass out. It’s a drug in its own right and I know you want to get a taste of it again.” Arachnia maliciously grinned. She strutted towards him with elongated fangs. 

He'll be out in klik. I gotta hand it to myself. Venomous pinchers in addition to fangs aren't so bad besides the natural perks of being a femme. Arachnia mentally congratulated herself, watching Prowl struggle to escape another brush with death.

Prowl leapt up into the sakura tree, sweating beads of energon and anxiously waited for the spider’s next move. The techno-organic was correct. The venom did seem to elicit positive emotions despite it slowly restricting his range of motion. He activated his jetpack and flew back to the house. She would send him offline for his intrusion and it would be best if he remained inside right now. If he wanted the answers he was seeking, she would need to come to him on her own time. And next time, he hoped that she would have her armor on when that time comes.


	6. Paralysis

Prowl struggled to fly back to the abandoned home and his jets froze halfway. He grunted in frustration and tried crawling his way back with all the strength of his right arm. His right servo failed him as it curled up into a locked fist. The weight in his chassis came back with a vengeance. His spark screamed for relief in its chamber without end. His left arm and servo already succumbed to the venom right after Arachnia's pinchers sunk into them. He refused to let his vocalizer to release a pained scream. Although the Decepticon femme saved him from dying of extreme energon deficiency and malnutrition, Prowl would never give her the satisfaction of watching him suffer. Instead, he fought back grunts and coolant tears, trying to return to the house. Little did he know, was that Blackarachnia wasn't watching.

She was nowhere to be found. She was gone. Prowl’s audio receptors picked up nothing in the vicinity anymore. He couldn’t hear her or scan for any signal in this condition. She ran off, permanently. His right elbow failed him in a few nanokliks after his last push towards the ancient home. Soon his optics fluttered offline and on as well as his consciousness. Each labored breath he took filled his intakes with fiery pain but it felt good to him. The femme was right about her venom having pleasurable effects just before her victims lose consciousness. Despite being completely paralyzed, a blissful grin plastered itself on Prowl’s faceplate and a primal moan escaped his vocalizer.

The afternoon sunshine faded. Storm clouds rolled in and rain poured down on the field below. Blackarachnia dragged the limp Autobot back into the house and did the same thing she did the night she rescued him. Lit the fireplace, gave him a steady energon transfusion and a return to a soft ,webbed mat.

This time, Arachnia stayed inside the house, for fear of her technological half rusting. She slowly crept up the stairs and went to her own silk woven bed. She pulled her webs over her self and went into recharge. It was funny seeing the Autobot struggle while hiding in her tree but it also made her feel guilty. He must've thought she left without a trace. She only experienced this feeling with herself and the incident that led to her mutation but she felt remorse. The femme felt guilty for the simple mistake he made and punishing him severely due to her paranoia. He only wanted a chance to talk. She hated that she had to paralyze the Autobot intruder but she didn’t want him to get too close to her. She loathed herself even more after infecting him with her venom. He’d want to be closer to her than ever now. From what she gathered in his combat skills. He was more level-headed than his friends. Much more stoic and composed all the way down to the structure of his spark. 

His processor was used a lot more than his shurikens, holo-projector or other toys he had for combat. So the techno-organic figured he wouldn’t be too inclined to make any desperate advances. Downstairs in the living room, Prowl’s optics flew wide open. He slowly moved a servo around to see if the paralyzing effects of Blackarachnia’s venom stopped. 

“Yes.” Prowl said clenching his servo into a fist. He could approach the spider consuming his thoughts. He crept up the stairs and gently peered into the doorways of each room. He just had to find the techno-organic. Not only did a thirst for knowledge urge him but the thrush of pheromones emanating off of the object of his desire was filling his olfactory sensors. He followed the scent of her pheromones. At the end of the hallway, he found Blackarachnia in recharge in a large, emerald green bedroom.

The room was fit for royalty in Prowl's opinion. The ornate but faded gold trim around the walls and bedframe enthralled him. On the left side of the bed, thick, gold, silk curtains were draped on the wall. Paintings of serpent-like creatures, shooting out flames were on the ceiling. A vanity mirror was on the far right end of the room. It still had bottles of perfume and makeup palettes on it. This must have been an organic femme's room. An upper class one at that. 

Prowl's olfactory sensor drank in the scent of the sweet pheromones she emitted. The more primitive part of his processor wanted to rouse the femme from her sleep and take her for himself. It wanted to reciprocate the emotions she tried so hard to repress and watch her succumb to organic instincts. But Prowl denied it satisfaction by sitting by her makeshift berth and watching over Blackarachnia.

“If only you could see what I do. Then you would trust me and let my dead spark live again with your brilliant mind and fascinating form. Trust me, Arachnia. I only want to know why you let me live.” Prowl stared longingly at the femme.

Blackarachnia began tossing and turning in recharge. Quietly whimpering and contorting her facial expressions in unrest.

Prowl inched closer towards the femme and watched her motions grow more erratic. 

“Wait! Where are you going?!” She cried in whatever nightmare held her thoughts.

“No. No, get off of me! Optimus? Optimus, don’t leave me!” Her voice grew thin and her servos opened up reaching out for an imaginary servo for assistance. 

“Arachnia, you need to awaken from recharge.” Prowl held her flailing servo. 

“Please!” She clenched his servo. 

“Wake up, Blackarachnia! I won’t hurt you like he did!” Prowl clenched his servo in response. One digit pressed into a pressure point in her wrist.

Blackarachnia shot up from her makeshift berth and her other servo on her aching processor. She felt another presence and yanked her clenched servo away from the cyber-ninja.

“What are you doing here? Did you come here to get a good look at what the freak looks like up close again?!” She said with tears in her optics.

“No. I came here to comfort my femme. My beautiful, brilliant femme.” Prowl stood and wrapped his arms around the frightened techno-organic.

“Don’t touch me! Leave me the frag alone!” She broke down in tears. 

“I refuse to. Not until you feel alright. Unless you make that known, I want to stay to comfort you.” Prowl stayed near the femme and clung to her chassis. Before, he thought the femme was a hostile, femme-fatale scientist who would suck all the life out of Earth to “cure” herself or take a part of Detroit for her own self-gain with her cunning and charm. He wanted to take his rage out on her along with the other Decepticons in the name of his fallen master but now. None of that matters. Not knowledge, not vengeance and definitely not the Autobots. What mattered now was that his femme, his new reason for escape was suffering and it was his job to make her feel loved again.


	7. Unfortunate Discovery

A couple of weeks have passed since Prowl's disappearance. At this point, it disheartened Optimus that his friend didn't even say goodbye. They had their disagreements but in the end, Prowl became one of his closest friends on the team and they'd always make time to share deeply personal thoughts if something was wrong. Hell, he was the first one to know about the incident with Elita-1. Even before Ratchet. The same thing went with Prowl and Yoketron's murder. When everyone else was recharging, they both spent many nights to talk mech to mech not just about their personal trauma but about life, nostalgic memories of Cybertron and even love. Prowl was a down-to-earth and profound bot to talk to. The most important thing was that he could keep a secret. Dinobot Island definitely proved he could. Now, Optimus wished he could have figured out a better way to help his friend. Losing one friend was already crushing him and he wasn't going to let another one slip through his servos. The Prime marched out of his berth room and went to the living room to see the others. 

“Ratchet, I want you to scan for Prowl’s tire tracks or pede prints. If we can’t track him with his commlink, we can do it old school.” Optimus said.

Ratchet shook his head tiredly and sighed. “Optimus, Prowl is a smart mech. He could have cut off his tracks with his jetpack or his jet boosters. How else could we find him if we run out of tracks to follow?”

Optimus paused and ran into Prowl’s berth room to look for any clues to where he might’ve gone.

“Why’s he going into Prowl’s room again? We already found his disabled commlink.” Bumblebee whispered to Bulkhead. Bulkhead listened to the minibot in utter confusion.

“He’s lookin’ for leads, you boltbrain! Prowl never leaves for no reason. He might be out looking for something. Maybe doing something the organics call "soul-searching". He might've head out in the woods somewhere so he can process his grief about his old metallikato teacher. The Cons sent 'im offline. I suspect Prowl's havin’ some kind of episode.” Ratchet looked down the hall.

“Episode? Like a TV episode?! That ol’ ninja-bot is gonna be on TV?!” Bulkhead jumped up and down jostling the two bots below.

“NO! I mean he’s experiencing a long period of depression. His teacher died so suddenly and he also got roped into our war with the ‘Cons before he could truly move on and make that choice for himself. I’ve seen what that kinda pain can do to a bot and most of the time it ends up killin’ ‘im.” Ratchet pondered.

“Really? Isn’t Prowl always a stick in the mud? I mean come on! When’s the last time you saw him actually _smile_?” Bumblebee chuckled.

“Don’t matter! Have you two ever stopped to notice how Prowl’s been acting ‘fore he left?” Ratchet crossed his arms, glaring at the two clueless bots.

“Uhm? Little help here, Bulk?” Bumblebee sheepishly chuckled. Bulkhead gave him a shrug.

“‘Course not! You’re just a couple of clueless,young bots who don’t look out for your friends! Prowl’s not had a single drop of energon in megacycles and locked himself in his berth room every day! He was wasting away and you didn’t even notice!” Ratchet returned to the computer and grumbled to himself.

“Sorry, Ratchet. We didn’t know-” Bumblebee said.

Ratchet threw his servos in the air and bellowed. “Ya never do! Ya don’t know because you don’t bother to pay attention. For all we know, Prowl could be offline by now or held hostage by Decepticons! They’ve been quiet for far too long and they might want to look inactive to distract us. Look, if ya want to make yerself useful I suggest-” Ratchet froze in mid sentence, turning his processor to Optimus with wide optics.

Bumblebee and Bulkhead followed suit.

Optimus walked out of Prowl’s berth room with numerous books about spiders, servo-drawn diagrams of the black widow and illustrations of Yoketron's spirit. They were all covered in live black widow spiders crawling over his “research”.

There were more papyrus images of Prowl himself, offline or in a stasis pod with his energon spilled across the ground. A few of books like _"The Myth of the Jorogumo",_ " _Advanced Guide to Toxicology_ " and a flash drive titled " _Communing with the Allspark"_ , unnerved Optimus. Loose paper illustrations of illegible handwriting and energon covered drawings of Prowl poisoning himself filled his spark with dread. On the back of every last drawing was an apology written in Cybertronian or the word "failure". The one thing they had in common was that they were all post-mortem plans the ninja-bot wanted to make if he decided to snuff out his own spark.

Optimus gave a horrified expression to the rest of his team.

“Whoa! That’s what’s been keeping Prowl in his berth room? Gosh, I always knew Prowl liked nature but this is a little bit, uh, much! Agh!” Bumblebee flicked a spider off of his servo.

“Sweet Primus. He’s more far gone than I thought.” Ratchet stared at an unfinished will.

“You think **_she_** has anything to do with this, Bossbot?” Bumblebee said, holding up a diagram of a black widow.

“I don’t know. There’s a lot about Prowl that we’re unsure of now. But if she is, she’ll have to answer to me.” Optimus nodded.


	8. Relief

Prowl kept holding Blackarachnia in his arms in the silk bed. His servos ran across her chassis lovingly. Arachnia stopped crying and looked at him with blurry optics.

“I will not hurt you like he did. I will remain here until you feel what I do when you’re around me.” Prowl stroked her helm.

Arachnia stared in silence. She took off her helmet and hissed at the Autobot. “Do you  _ really  _ think that **_this_ ** is worth the feelings you have? I’m not who Optimus thinks I am anymore! I’m a fragging monster because he left me behind!” She sobbed again.

Prowl could hear the anguish in her voice and it hurt his spark seeing her shun the features he was drawn to so much.

“You’re the new reason I have left the Autobots and reside here. I came here to grieve and possibly put myself offline so I could join my master in oneness with the Allspark. Frankly, your presence here was a lifesaver. Thinking of you was the only reason I didn’t want to snuff out my spark aside from my communication with my master’s spark when meditating.” Prowl lifted her processor to face him.

Arachnia wiped her optics and looked at him with shock. “Really? You came here to die?”

Prowl nodded shamefully. “Yes. I never intended to join Team Prime. I just wanted to escape the horrors of war that the Autobots wanted to rope me into. On Cybertron, I was selfish young spark barely of drafting age. To avoid that gruesome fate, Yoketron took me in and taught me everything I know. After he went offline, I left Cybertron. There was nothing there for me anymore. Without finishing my training and failing to understand "processor over matter", it was best that to leave and commune with the Allspark. Being alone always worked out for me and I wanted it to stay that way until I deemed it best to go offline. Even if that meant extinguishing my own spark.” 

“Then you thought it’d be better to end it all than be without someone you care about. Hmm, that’s weird. Hearing an Autobot be genuinely imperfect rather than the saviors of tomorrow is funny to me. In Lugnut’s words you were supposed to be “GLORIOUS”! But you aren’t. You’re just...you.” She said mimicking the overly loyal Decepticon.

Prowl chuckled at the femme. He examined the shape of her processor and her optics. All of the intricate patterns on them both were mesmerizing to him. “Seems fitting. As much as I look up to Optimus, I can’t help but feel inadequate in my interpersonal skills. There’s a lot I don’t understand about this planet and now that we’re stuck here, I have no choice but to adapt especially with working with a loud group of mechs and an organic child.” 

“Don’t mention him or compare yourself to him. That’s his whole spiel. He gets all close. He smiles with his sickeningly polished faceplate. He says he cares about you and then when you need him, he leaves and takes your spark with you. That’s what he did with me. Your spark was about to expire when I found you outside. Be grateful that you aren’t as close to Optimus as your other cronies are. If you were, I wouldn’t hold back.” She hissed.

Prowl wanted to ask more questions. He wanted to know why she was so hostile towards the Autobots stellarcycles after the incident. But he refrained from asking them to get rid of the salt he put in her wounds when he saw her armourless by the river. He wrapped his arm around the femme and held her close.

“Nobody ever...understood me and stayed to comfort me like this. I haven’t felt  _ normal,  _ in stellarcycles.” Arachnia put her processor on his shoulder and skimmed her digits over his chest plate.

Prowl felt his system’s energon heating up and tried to cool them down without his fans. They’d be too obvious. She’d get the wrong idea again. He needed to play it cool and stay cool. He wasn't going to let her attack him. Not again. He ran a servo down her back. Prowl’s optics perked up as his audio receptors picked up on something. The low hum of _her_ cooling fans. A proud smirk snaked across his face as the techno-organic drifted into recharge. 

_ Hm, guess I’m not the only one getting warmed up.  _

“Mmh,Prowl?” Blackarachnia looked up at him with soft and tired optics.

“Yes, my femme?” He looked down at her. His primal, venom fueled instincts were ready to kick into overdrive. His cooling fans started whirring and the hand on her chassis gripped her harder. He couldn't control this burning feeling in his spark. The energon in his system rushed through his internal tubes and his spark almost burst out of its chamber. It was unclear whether or not she was fully aware of how strong her influence was on him but one thing was for certain. As long as Blackarachnia and her semi-organic pheromones were near him, she'd always be his. He snapped out of his possessive trance and froze when he saw the displeased look on the techo-organic's face.

“ _ Your  _ femme? _ Please.  _ I don’t belong to anybody. I’m only here so I can be alone. It’s hard to do that when you have Dinobots fighting for your attention all the time back in Detroit. They act like bratty sparklings.” She groaned.

“It appears Primus brought us together with our common goals for tranquility and escape. Maybe he brought us here for something more meaningful.” Prowl said. He mentally thanked Arachnia for giving his primitive mech instincts a cold shower.

Arachnia sighed and stroked his chest plate with a delicate servo. “I guess. Look Prowl, I want this. Whatever we have right now. I really do but, I don’t feel ready. As much as the ‘Con in me hates to say it, I enjoy your company and I know you feel the same way. I can tell because of your, uh, “eagerness".” Blackarachnia briefly looked down and back up at a flustered Prowl.

_She knew._ She knew how powerful her presence was and teased him with it. He quickly moved away from the techno-organic to cool. Not only were his fans at full speed but his interface equipment was fired up too. 

He looked away from Arachnia burying his processor between his knees. _ Primus! Why can’t I go a nanoklik without overheating around her? I’m malfunctioning worse than a teenage bot ready to interface.  _ He thought.

Blackarachnia laughed and laid down on her stomach. “Don’t be too embarrassed, hotshot. I have that effect on bots. Even without the pleasure venom. I’m gonna go. I still need time to think about this but promise me you won’t try anything slick.” She got up and walked towards the door.

“I swear to Primus.” He crossed his chest plate with his digits.

“Good.” Blackarachnia nodded. She gave him a faint smile and walked downstairs. 

Prowl remained in her berth room and went to the dresser. It was still intact and had a frame of a Japanese family. An elder brother. Another older brother, a young mother and five sisters of varying ages. The woman was holding the youngest, an infant in her arms. The frame was made of rusty silver and the picture had a sepia toned appearance. Prowl assumed this was the summer home of a large and well-to-do family circa 1946. Most of the furniture and architecture was Japanese but he also noted some American influences like the dresser and the vanity at the edge of the berth. Those must've been imported. The vanity was broken. He faintly remembered the shattered mirror he used to examine his physical state after Arachnia rescued him. With how distressed he was hearing his femme loathe herself and mourn her original form, he suspected this was the result of her rage and anguish. 

The image also made him long for Yoketron and Jazz. Prowl sighed, thanking Primus for keeping Jazz alive and close to his spark. Noticing that the picture was missing the father made his spark ache. From what he gathered from Earth's history books on trips to the Detroit library, the father must have perished in a war. One much like the chaos happening between Autobots and Decepticons. 

"I shouldn't hurt my spark by thinking about these things. Besides, what good would it be to relight something that's been reduced to ash?" The ninja said, taking a solitary seat on the floor.


	9. The Well

Sitting on the rotten, wood floor, Prowl took a deep breath. Slowly filling his intakes with oxygen and cursing himself for allowing coolant tears to fall down his face. It was quiet. The techno-organic left and there was no one in the mansion-sized house but him. Using his heat signature scanner, he could tell that Blackarachnia was miles away from the sakura tree she took refuge in and went deeper into the forest of blossoms after seeing him. Using a landscape or his usual energy scanner were no good. Her organic half would've masked her trail. It seemed like they were just talking to each other a couple of nanokliks ago but judging by the chronometer on his right arm, it's been a few cycles since then.

He rose from the floor and went to the living room downstairs. It was even bigger than Arachnia's room. Emerald green also covered its walls. Shuttered doors were decorated in ink paintings of sakura trees and orchids. Burgundy curtains of silk and wine colored chairs circled around the fireplace. The mat Arachnia made was there too but something smaller piqued Prowl's interest. A matchbox and a bowl of incense sticks were on the fireplace's mantle next to a black book with gold Japanese letters on it.

"Hm, these certainly weren't here before." He said picking up the sticks and matchbox.

From what his memory core could recall, when he woke up in the house's living room, there wasn't anything around to light the fireplace but somehow Arachnia managed to light it. This puzzled the ninja as he picked up the book in his left servo. In his studies prior to leaving Detroit, learning another Earth dialect was crucial to understand some of the information he was gathering on spiders. Particularly the golden orb weaver and black widows when he was reading _"The Tales of the Jorogumo" ._ That book was more of a collection of handwritten accounts of some kind of creature the organics have seen through the ages. After downloading language software at the Detroit library to help him understand Japanese, it all seemed like superstitious and exaggerated mythos when he reread it. However, this book was different. It was written completely in Kanji script instead of the various Hiragana and Katakana script that he was about to finish downloading into the language compartment of his mind.

Prowl put the matches and incense sticks down to cradle the old text. Delicately turning the pages with his digits, he saw a note on the first page.

_"For Masaaki, a wise boy who became a wise man. Take heed and read well. You are doing your family a world of good."_

Prowl squinted at the writing at the bottom of the note to see who wrote the note but to no avail. The bottom right corner of the book was burned, leaving a chunk of the book's page missing or illegible. But this "Masaaki" person, took advantage of the book, leaving many annotations of his studies. 

"A wise man, indeed. Now what's this book called?" Prowl said, closing it. 

" _Sato's Wisdom For the Youth and Folktales"_

"Ah, this is a guide for meditation and understanding the culture from the Edo period. Fascinating. I wonder if the jorogumo book I brought here can provide more clarity about Arachnia's venom from a cultural perspective." Prowl put the book back on the fireplace mantle and went to the mat on the floor to check the stack of books in next to it.

Crouching down, he looked under the chairs and wandered around the room looking for it. His search made his spark twitch with anxiety. His pace grew frantic as he checked every corner of the room. 

"No! I couldn't have left it! It was in my servos when I left. I took **_everything_ ** !" He ran back to the mat and skimmed through each title. " **_Scrap! "_ **He swore under his breath.

There was no way he'd leave such valuable research and personal material out of his supervision. Especially, knowing that a certain nosy minibot would want to take advantage of Prowl's absence and snoop around his berth. The same went for Optimus as well. Now he knew why Arachnia attacked him by the river. Prime must've been keeping tabs on her and she wanted to get out of his surveillance by leaving Detroit somehow. _How irritating._

Prowl paused and took a deep breath to think out loud. "Relax. It's only a book. A simple material object that can replaced. There are more that can tell you about the weavers and widow spiders. There's incense here too. Maybe clearing your processor will help."

He sat down cross-legged with a match and the bowl of incense sticks then lit their wicks. He offlined his optics then slowed his breathing. His mind began to drift off into an altered state. The silence of the room and the aroma of incense soothed him. It wasn't spark fluttering or cooling fan igniting-ly good but it was helpful. He felt his spark drift out of his physical body and into a higher plain of existence. When he "woke up" in this plain, he saw vast space of lavender and stardust around him as his "spirit" floated through. 

_"Astounding! I wasn't able to reach this length of mental enlightenment before. I bet my research about whatever force is drawing me to Blackarachnia is paying off. Maybe I'm beginning to master "processor over matter" and Primus is allowing Yoketron to congratulate me! I'm not sure what this plain, dimension or whatever this place is but Yoketron is_ **_here._ ** _I can sense him! "_ He thought as he traveled through the space-like plain.

A pale blue light was in the distance. Prowl felt his spark leap and grinned in childlike joy as he floated towards it. It shot out a beam to his chest plate and yanked him closer sending Prowl's spirit speeding to the source of the light. 

_"Whoa! This was strange. Master, if this is you, where are you taking m-AAAAAAAH!"_

When the light stopped dragging him, the beam connecting his spark to it disappeared. Now a huge, blue sphere stood before him. Almost as if Cybertron itself was staring at him. Whatever it was, it certainly was alive and well. 

Prowl knelt down in reverence at its regal presence. He sensed great power from the energy it gave off.

_"Sweet Primus. It's_ **_PRIMUS!_ ** _Great One, thank you for gracing me with your presence I... "_ He struggled to find the words to say to something so powerful and it started frustrating him. This being called to him and he couldn't say a simple sentence without shaking like a scared sparkling.

"Damn _it, Prowl! You're acting as childish as Bumblebee in front of_ **_HIM!_ ** _Primus of all beings!"_ He said trembling at the sphere.

Suddenly a smaller sphere of light came out of the planet-sized one and went next to Prowl. The ninja felt a servo on his shoulder, beckoning him to stand.

_"You don't know what the Well of All Sparks looks like? That is ironic coming from such a smart and curious young mech."_ A familiar and amused voice said.

Prowl's optics widened and he quickly stood on his pedes to see Yoketron standing beside him. Time seemed to stand still as tears of coolant rushed down Prowl's face. He wrapped his arms around his mentor and sobbed as he embraced the old mech. Yoketron chuckled and received his student's overwhelming joy without hesitation. They stayed locked in a circle of reconnection for what felt like an eternity. Prowl didn't care. He was just glad to see his mentor. His **_father._** He hadn't felt this much happiness since he was a teenaged spark. When they broke away, Prowl struggled to look Yoketron in the optics fearing that he'd leave him or be a figment of his imagination. He didn't want his father to let go. He just got here. He couldn't leave and wouldn't. Would he?

Yoketron noticed this and said sternly, _"Prowl, you are being spoken to. Take off your visor and look me in the optics. You are a grown mech. One with honor and one with dignity. Now face your teacher with them."_

Prowl immediately took off his visor revealing, bright violet optics with faded gold irises. It had been years since he took his visor off. Most bots assumed they were a decorative mod. A mere fashion statement. Others assumed that they _were_ his optics because they never seen him remove it and they moved with the rest of his facial expressions. But in reality, an Autobot with purple optics was rare and very few who had this trait were brave enough to flaunt them. Those that could were probably of the warrior class or some other class that was force to be reckoned with but Prowl? He was the perfect target. He was shunned, teased even threatened by students in the cyber-ninja compound and by Cybertronians in general prior to finding his trademark visor to cover them up.

Yoketron smiled again and gazed proudly at the young ninja-in-training. _"There. Now, was that so difficult? What troubles you my son? You look like you've seen a ghost."_

Prowl shifted nervously in response. Meditation simply allowed Prowl to enter an empty, black void. Someplace quiet and peaceful in his _own_ headspace. But this place, the Well of All Sparks, was a dimension where the sentient collection of all the sparks of fallen bots go to be one with that very force. It was almost as transcendent and chilling as seeing Primus himself. 

_"M-Master, I did see a ghost! Millions, if not more in an energy sphere the size of Cybertron! And you! How? How is it possible that meditation brought me here? I don't have this kind of mental power alone! Did I do processor over matter? Or did you summon me here with that beam of light?"_ Prowl said pointing to his chest plate.

Yoketron nodded and sighed sadly. " _ **I** brought you here. On behalf of the spirits of your fellow fallen cyber-ninja, and on the behalf of the Great One, I am here to warn you. You have a void in your spark, my son. It will extinguish your life force if you allow your grief and obsession with the spider femme to cloud your processor." _

_"What? I don't understand. I've waited! I've waited so long for the time Primus will take me to this well and this is the perfect opportunity to be with you again! Out there, I am a failure! I failed to save you! I failed to save Detroit on my own time and time again. I had to settle as the weapons expert for a group of ragtag space-bridge mechs instead of bringing the Cyber-Ninja class honor alone! Ever since Blackarachnia managed to almost kill me with her venom, it is_ **_my_ ** _responsibility to study the enemy up close. To use my_ **_processor_ ** _over the_ **_matter_ ** _around me. If I can't do that, I am not meant to live out my days as an dishonorable and unrealized student. I'd rather join you along with the rest of my fallen brothers and sisters. Even if that means snuffing out my own spark!_ Prowl cried.

" _My son, you will_ **_never_ ** _fail me or the Cyber-Ninja. You may not have gotten along with some of them in life but nevertheless, you,me and all of them, are united under the spiritual bond our sparks share. The bond we have goes beyond the energon that flows in our systems. None of those silly attempts to "prove yourself" or "study the enemy" matters right now. What matters to_ **_me_ ** _is that you remember who you are and let go of these attachments to the past. Move forward and be guided by those who are with you_ **_in life._** _I miss you too but it is not your time yet."_ _Yoketron pleaded._

Both mechs began to let tears fall and they hugged each other again. This time Yoketron was emboldened by his pride seeing how much his son had grown and was quicker to reach out to him.

_" I see. I love you, father."_ Prowl said, with his optics offlined and still clinging to the old mech.

_"And I love you too, Prowl. Remember that in all that you do, you will_ **_never_ ** _dishonor me."_ He replied.

Yoketron's voice echoed as he slowly disappeared with the Well of All Sparks. Prowl felt the weight in his chest plate return as his arms seemed to clutch empty space. 

_"No! No! No! NO! Father you can't-! Go?"_

His spirit returned to his body and sent a shockwave of energy throughout his system. He shot straight up and blinked his optics a few times. Apparently he laid down while meditating. There must have been a lot going on with his physical body when he "left". Then Prowl put his servos up to his face to feel if his visor was also taken off in the physical realm. They weren't. He was safe. Standing up and shaking his dazed processor, he stumbled to the backyard's shuttered door, and into the sunny sakura forest to make sense of what just happened.


	10. Simple Mistake

After talking to Yoketron's spark and feeling that electric awakening back into the physical world, Prowl felt disoriented. The afternoon sunlight and the rushing late summer wind wasn't helping either. Coolant was pooling in his optics and the sakura forest in the backyard looked like a mass of white and pink clouds. He was glad that there wasn't a stairway to the backyard. In this condition he'd be face down in the grass. Meditation was his go-to to clear his mind and find peace. Instead the heavy clouds of cinnamon incense and his bizarre journey to the Well of All Sparks made him even more confused. Primus gave him the opportunity to see the mech who treated him like his own sparkling. For that, Prowl was thankful but it would be nice if that experience didn't make him want to cough up the fuel in his reserve tank. The nausea would probably kill him before the dull ache in his processor. 

He slowly walked through the sea of grass and into the beginning of the sakura forest. Then slumped himself against Arachnia's tree and offlined his optics to recharge. The ninja realized that Yoketron entered his mind while meditating and opened up a mental portal to the well's dimension in the spiritual plane. Doing so, with the power of their familial spark bond, must've forced him to do some type of astral projection. The legendary act of projecting one's conscience somewhere else. During Prowl's days at the Cyber-Ninja compound, he remembered Yoketron mentioning this ability as one of the things a fully realized ninja could do after mastering "processor over matter". It wasn't about controlling the place you entered. It was about connection, understanding and accepting the life that filled it like a new friend. Treating anyone in it with respect and love.

_ Love.  _ Prowl thought.  _ If I can connect with Blackarachnia and try to understand her without any book or research, could I learn to love her? Could I use this to fill the void Master said was in my spark? He said I had to let go of my  _ **_obsession_ ** _ with her. Most likely, the lust I had for her beautiful frame. He didn't say that I had to leave the **femme** behind. Just my carnal desires for her. So maybe I should stay in Japan a little while longer. Only two weeks have passed since my arrival. There's no harm in staying with her. At least not too much. _

Prowl sank back against the tree trunk and fell into a well deserved recharge. Going to a spiritual dimension must have taken more than just his physical energy. His spark passed out as well after using so much to talk to Yoketron. 

In the distance, Blackarachnia jumped high from tree to tree back to the one she lived in by the river. When she landed, she saw the mech unconscious with his back against the tree. She put some of his research papers and books up in her tree then put two digits against his neck to see if he went into emergency stasis. 

"Thank Primus, you're asleep." She whispered in relief. "Wonder made you so tired, hotshot. Hope you don't mind me doing some research of my own." She said looking up at the books in her sakura tree. 

She gazed at the sleeping mech and chuckled at the sakura blossoms on his shoulders. Then she saw the dent marks made from when she attacked him all those weeks ago. Damn, she really did some damage if he was still healing from those open wounds. Then again, she left her first aid kit in the living room for him. Prowl seemed to always get banged up one way or another the more he stayed here. No matter. As long as he was still alive, she could take as much as she wanted from him and maybe coax some answers out of him. That phony excuse of "simply studying" wasn't going to cut it. Although, the thing about his dead master sounded true. It must've really messed him up in the processor if it managed to make him act so weak.

After sitting for a while and feeling the breeze of the summer afternoon, her olfactory sensors picked up a pleasant aroma. It was strong and sweet. Like her own pheromones but with a hint of smoke to it.

_ What was that spice organics were always putting in everything when it got cold? It started with an "S" or a "C". Was coming from him? What's this Autobot up to? Using some Earth spice isn't going to get me to open up my spark chamber for you if **that's** what you want.  _ Arachnia thought.

Despite her suspicions, she just knelt in front of Prowl. Who was now covered in sakura petals and his visor sitting in his lap. 

"Hm, that's a nice look for you, hotshot. Really brings out your paint job." She smirked and brushed off a few on his shoulders. 

The light touch around his sensitive, healing stab wounds stung a bit. Awakening Prowl with bare violet optics, he blinked a few times and saw Blackarachnia in front of him. Her servos were up to her mouth and her optics were wide in shock. 

Prowl jumped onto his pedes and turned away from the shocked femme. Seeing his visor at his side he picked it up and rushed to put it on before facing her.

Blackarachnia didn't know what to say. She didn't even know what to think. Those dark violet optics and their gold irises were stuck in her memory core as more questions came to her mind. 

Were her optics malfunctioning? Did Prowl, an _Autobot,_ have purple optics? _Was_ he even an Autobot? 

All she could do was stand up and wait for him to respond as he turned to face her with a stern grimace.

  
"You saw **nothing**. Understand?" He said in a low voice. 

Arachnia glanced at his clenched servos and walked towards him slowly with her arms gently wrapping around him. Prowl looked down at the femme confused. Still tense and afraid of another potential assault on his shoulders. 

Arachnia broke away staring at him with just as much confusion. Then she offlined her optics, took a deep breath and quickly whispered. "I like your optics." 

Prowl's servos unclenched and his frame loosened. His audio receptors barely picked up those words. Did she say what he thought she said? He came closer to the femme and lifted her helm up to his visored optics. 

"What did you say?" He said. His optics softened as he processed her shocking reaction to seeing his violet optics.

Blackarachnia onlined her optics again and looked straight at him. Her spark began to flutter in its chamber as his grimace became bemused intrigue. 

"I said...I like your optics. They're different but nice." She gave him a shy smile. 

Energon rushed to Prowl face. If he were human, he'd be a blushing disaster. Seeing the Decepticon act outside of her typical femme-fatale demeanor shook him to to the core of his spark. 

"T-Thank you." He stammered. 

"Sorry if this gets too personal but were they always like that?" She said in awe. At this point she was beaming with curiosity. She inched closer to him to get a closer look behind his optics.

"It's fine and yes. They've been this way since I was sparked. Many bots on Cybertron didn't react as kindly to them as you did. Even some students in the cyber-ninja compound teased me for them when I was a teenage spark. So I made this visor out of a crystalized energon and zarkon alloy to hide them. To avoid being punished for something I couldn't control." He said.

"Wow. Can I...see them again?" Arachnia said putting a servo to his face. 

Prowl nodded and took off his visor. His gold irises shined in the sunlight and pierced Arachnia's primary set of optics below.

"Oh and Prowl?" Arachnia said mesmerized by his optics.

"Yes?" He replied. 

"Can I also do this?" Arachnia pressed up against his chest plate and brushed her lips against his. Her optics flutter on and offline as his glossa began to gain entry into her mouth. 

Prowl's servos rested on her hips. Feeling her lip components against his was more enjoyable than he imagined. Her semi organic form made her lips and chassis much softer than the average Cybertronian. This fascinated him as her servos gripped on his chest plate. Then he began to taste energon in his mouth and gently pushed her away. 

Blackarachnia jumped back in response. "Did I hurt you? Shit! I knew this was a mistake!" 

Prowl grabbed her servo before she started to run off. "Wait! It's just a scratch. I'll be fine. It can be taken care of. Please don't go." He said wiping away the energon from his mouth. 

Arachnia hesitantly came back to him. Her clawed servos gently wrapped around his neck. 

Prowl kissed her lips again then gazed deeply into her optics. "I have a feeling that this will be the start of a new beginning. A chance for me to start over. To be free without holding anything back or hiding my true colors so to speak." 

"What do you mean? You going back to the Autobots?" Arachnia said breathlessly. 

"I don't know yet but what I do know, is that I want to be closer to you now more than ever. It'll be different but nice." He smiled as he quoted her words from before.

Arachnia took off her helmet and gave him a warm grin. "Yeah, nice."

They walked back to the red and green house watching the sky turn orange and pink as the sun set. Then entered the living room laying on the webbed mat drifting off into a peaceful recharge.


	11. Five Weeks Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Just checking in! Hope you're all liking the fic so far! Sorry if the formatting is a bit difficult to read or if Cybertronian time units are a little wonky! I'm still learning about the basics to those. But this fic will really start to heat up as we move from the slow burn between Prowl and Blackarachnia to Optimus' search for him and some flashbacks of Prowl's descent into grief. Things might get a little bit on the gory side so feel free to lay off on reading until a couple chapters later. 
> 
> Love you all and hope you'll keep reading!

( _Timeskip to about 5 weeks after Prowl disappeared.)_

Optimus was far beyond desperate. Two weeks have passed since his disappearance and the third week was halfway over. Doing mere scans, searching for localized energy signals and tracing commlink activity was pointless. This was now a full on rescue mission. Since Prowl was a master of secrecy, most of the things Optimus discovered in his room were hard to decipher aside for his motive for leaving their base. If the Autobots were to have a better lead on where their friend was, they would need better technology to look for him on a global or interplanetary scale. If they couldn't find him in Detroit or in the state of Michigan as a whole, they'd need to look outside of the state. Maybe even scale the planet if necessary. But one thing was for certain, Optimus was dead set on finding him. From the spider mishap costing him the trust of Elita-1 and the spark of a twisted and wily Decepticon femme, the Prime swore that he wouldn't abandon any one of his teammates again. 

One night, Optimus called a meeting to discuss their new searching plans for Prowl. Ratchet, Bumblebee and Bulkhead hesitated to enter the factory's garage. This had been the sixth late night meeting their leader set up to come up with search plans. It was getting old and this search was beginning to become a wild goose chase. Every scan and venture out into Detroit gave them all fruitless results. It wasn't worth wasting time or resources to find him. 

"I apologize for calling a search meeting again but we _have_ to get a good lead on Prowl. He's a part of this team and he's our friend. I made a vow to never abandon another teammate after what happened to Elita-1 and I intend to keep it by heading out to Sumdac Tower. If we can't use our own tracking and navigation tech to find him, then we'll need to find something that'll help us find him on a broader scale." He said. 

The other three mech stood silent. All looking at each other, waiting to for someone to break the silence and let the overzealous Prime down easily. Bumblebee and Bulkhead looked at Ratchet, quietly begging him to speak to Optimus. 

The old mech sighed exasperatedly and then approached him. "OP, this is the last time I'm gonna to say this. Prowl's gone offline. You yerself saw how despondent he was. Ya saw the notes, you saw the drawings and the unfinished wills. Hell, Prime you even saw spilt energon all over the stuff! With everything ya heard or saw 'im do, I was the first one ya told. This was all signs of a severe depression and energon deficiency. His grief made him act irrationally and so did the lack of proper nutrition. I'm sorry, Optimus but he's dead. He just couldn't handle losing Yoketron. I'm afraid ya have to accept that." 

"Geez, Ratchet! Way to let him down easily. Look Bossbot, we know how much you wanna keep your promise but if Prowl _is_ still online, maybe he needs time to really think about his place on Team Prime. Remember that time he borrowed Ratchet's EMP? Logic and self control went completely out the window. Dinobot Island, common sense bye-bye! He kept that one a secret for a while, right Bulk?" Bumblebee urged his green friend to speak. 

"Oh, uh, yeah OP! Yeah, he sure did keep the island under wraps." Bulkhead nervously chuckled. He hoped that his leader wouldn't be so down. He didn't want him to leave like Prowl did.

"We think it's best that you stop this search mission business and wait for Prowl to come back. _**If**_ he's still online. I don't want you doin' anything drastic like he did. We have enough on our plates as is. We still need to keep our eyes out for 'Cons if they make a comeback. Using up our energon and oil reserves might draw some unnecessary attention from the Elite Guard. We've already requested fifth supply from the Autobot Commonwealth through them and the last thing I'd like to wake up to at 2:30 in the morning is a pissed off Sentinel." Ratchet admitted. 

Optimus paused and mulled over the medic's words. An inspired smirk snaked across his face as he looked at Ratchet. "Scratch that. I have a better idea. Appreciate it, Ratchet."

The medic worriedly glanced at Bee and Bulkhead then back at the now suspiciously confident mech. " _Prime,_ please don't get any funny ideas. Why don't ya just take this old doc bot's orders and go recharge. It's too early for this bullslag!"

"I'm gonna have to agree with Ratchet on that one, Bossbot. I'm still tired from the last few search parties. You're working too hard. You might start doing whatever Prowl was doing in his berth room if you're not careful." Bumblebee yawned. 

Optimus rolled his optics at that remark. _Please._ He was a grown mech. He may be young and have a tendency get in over his head but he wasn't going to lose hope or his mind trying to find Prowl. Not more than he had now. Thanks to Ratchet, Optimus had a new plan of action. Instead of using _things_ as clues maybe Autobots outside of his team might've seen him. Why didn't he think of that before?! He'd need to talk to them quickly and quietly if possible. If a witness wanted to tag along to search, the Prime thought it was best to go with them alone. It's been awhile since him and Prowl talked. Optimus always looked forward to their evening conversations when everyone else was recharging. Perhaps doing the same with a witness could garner less criticism like what he's been getting from his teammates lately. 

"I'll be fine, Bee. Go back to your room to recharge. Ratchet, Bulkhead do the same. I'll be coming up with a plan in my berth room if you need me. Sorry for waking you up." Optimus said. 

As they made their way to their berths, Bulkhead, who's been surprisingly quiet, turned to the medic and said, "Hasn't he been doing that for the past few megacycles?" Bulkhead whispered to Ratchet. 

"The past _few?_ He doesn't go a single night waking us up to share some crazy scheme to find Prowl! OP's got his spark in the right place but face it. We're not dealing with our typical brooding ninja anymore. You haven't seen or heard but Prowl's become a real broken mech since his last trip to Dinobot Island." Ratchet gave him a concerned glance.

"Guess it's not too good if Optimus is spending his recharging period trying to look for him. Y'know, if Prowl does come back, do you think you can fix him?" Bulkhead said warily. 

Ratchet grit his denta nervously. He wanted to cheer up the naïve, young mech and tell him that the ninja would be okay but even he wasn't sure. Everything remained a mystery now. The medic offlined his optics for a moment to gather his thoughts and break them down into words his giant companion could understand. 

"Prowl isn't broken on the outside, kid. Sure, he was energon-starved but that happened because there's somethin' wrong with his spark. And a hurt spark leads to a hurt body. Back in my day, the only thing us medics were trained to fix is the damage on the outside. The stuff you can touch. Like broken servos and damaged circuitry. What Prowl's dealin' with goes beyond that. The very core of his spark is dying and I'm not able to fix that." He said as they reached their berth room doors.

"Are you _sure_ can't do anything to help Prowl? He might've ran into Cons or who knows what?! If he comes back, we could get Sari to fix him with her key or find a Allspark fragment or uh... I don't know! I don't what we can do but I just want everything to be normal again!" 

Bulkhead was on the verge of tears. It tore him up when something was wrong with one of his friends. Since he had no clue how to really help, it hurt his spark too. It infuriated him knowing that Bumblebee and Ratchet were so eager to give up. 

Ratchet shook his head and stared at the young bot. Trying to fight back tears of his own. "Kid, this is out of my control. We don't even know if Prowl's still online and if he isn't, we have to move on. We can't let his absence crush our sparks like this. I'm sorry, Bulkhead, there's nothing I can do unless Optimus gets a good lead on Prowl. Until then, we just have to sleep on it like we've been doing."

Bulkhead opened his berth room door and wiped the coolant pooling in his optics. "Oh really?! Well, if you and Bee wanna give up, go ahead! At least I'll get off of my aft and help Prime if he needs it!" He slammed the door. 

Ratchet knew when he crossed a line and he just sped his way off the edge. Then he mumbled to himself just before going into recharge. "I dunno if Primus, the Allspark or whoever is listening up there. But I just wanna say this. Everything's is getting out of hand and I just want that moody bot to come back home online so I don't have to beat myself up over losing somebody else to this slag. I'm tired of reliving these damned cycles from the war. All I want is to see, that poor mech's spark fixed. It's been left untreated for too long." With that said, Ratchet offlined his optics and started to recharge.


	12. Severed Ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This ain't it. That's all I'm going to say.

_ 3:30 A.M. EDT _

_ Teletraan-1 Communication Software is Requesting Contact.... _

_ (Please wait while connection is pending)  _

_ Requester's Location: Detroit, Michigan USA _

__

__

_ 3:55 A.M. EDT _

_ (Establishing Connection to Cyberton Elite Guard Fleet Sector 513's J-4ZZ Frequency) _

_ (Connection Complete. Please present your servo on the scanner for ID verification) _

_ Requested Location: 4.8 kilometers away from Earth's exosphere _

_ (ID verified. Greetings, Optimus Prime. You are now contacting Sector 513's Vice Communications Supervisor) _

__

__

The Prime rolled his optics at the AI droning on and on while waiting for the communication unit to connect. His digits tapped against the dashboard impatiently waiting for a response. Thankfully, it was still dark and his team mates weren't exactly morning bots. Except for Prowl. It was like he was always awake no matter the hour before he left. Prior to his mental breakdown, he had plenty of energy to talk to Optimus whenever they both had downtime. It was always refreshing to get insight from a mech wise beyond his years. Oh if only he were here now, with all Decepticon activity on Earth down, they would've had a field day picking each other's processors and cracking an occasional joke. Optimus perked up when Teletraan-1 said "Vice Communications Supervisor". Ultra Magnus must have promoted him recently. It was about time he recognized Jazz's impeccable organization and social networking skills. He was a natural when it came to talking to people.

The screen on the Prime's communication unit stopped loading, then Jazz appeared holding a stylus and data tablet behind a mountain of data files. Pushing them aside to face Optimus.

__

||| _ "What's shakin' Prime?" _ |||

Jazz gave him a tired two-digit salute.

Optimus waved back and beamed at the white mech. He was surprised that anyone was still up at this hour. Then again, he remembered Sentinel didn't have much concern for the welfare of anyone else but himself. Most of the assignments he didn't want to do as the sector's captain and communications president all fell on Jazz or the Jet twins. Overextension and overwork seemed to be a recurring event among the Autobot Commonwealth nowadays despite Con activity being at an all time low. That was also strange. What was going on? Why was everyone leaving Optimus so clueless and worried?

| ||"Not much, Mr. Vice Supervisor. Decepticon activity is zero and our human foes have all been apprehended. However, there's one pressing matter I need your help with." |||

Optimus said. 

__

__

Noticing Jazz baring his denta in an apologetic fashion, he knew that the mech was exhausted and didn't want another task to get dumped on him. But this was a friend. Someone outside the surveillance ship that wouldn't get on his last nerve and appeared to have something on his mind. So he relented.

|||" _ Thanks for noting my promo as vice supervisor, OP. But if you're just here to congratulate me, I gotta cut you off before the 50th nanoklik passes by. Those are SP's orders. A part of his new energon "conservation plan". Plus, the Chinhead also gave me orders to funnel that fifth energon shipment to you guys. What's up with all these requests? You fellas doin' okay?" _ |||

Jazz raised an optic ridge at the anxious Prime.

Optimus' frame was visibly shaking. Coolant began to glisten his plating while he began to speak. From the bits and pieces Prowl told him, along with the way the two interacted with each other, Jazz was his best friend. Their friendship surpassed the one he and the black ninja had and it seemed to run pretty deep. Optimus had never felt this much fear in breaking bad news to anyone and it showed. But he had to tell him. This was an opportunity to get a good lead and get someone close to Prowl to serve as a negotiator if the troubled mech refused to return home. 

Jazz lowered his visor and looked at him with concerned blue optics.

||| _ "You good, man? You ain't lookin' so hot." _ |||

__

Now was his chance. Optimus shook less violently and his cooling fans stopped straining themselves to keep him from overheating with fear. He opened his mouth and blurted. 

|||"Prowl's missing. It's been almost a month since we saw him."|||

__

Jazz's spark froze instantly after Optimus spoke. He replied in a low voice.

|||" _ Optimus...why? Why didn't you tell me this  _ **_sooner_ ** _?" _ |||

__

__

Optimus was afraid Jazz would respond like that. He sighed apologetically and tried to keep eye contact with Jazz. In order to keep his potential lead, he had to think fast and be more careful with his word choice. This conversation could make or break his mission to save Prowl and Optimus was determined to keep it up if it meant keeping his vow to be there for his friends. The Prime rose from his seat and leaned against the communication unit's dashboard. He cleared his vocalizer to break the deadly silence between them and kept a firm tone. Being passive and watching the days go by without a formulated plan has gone on enough.

But before Optimus could reply, Jazz rested his chin on his right servo and bit his lip glaring at the Prime in disappointment. 

||| _ "I...I don't even want to  _ **_know_ ** _ why you cats have been goin' through energon. I just want to know what  _ **_took_ ** _ you so long to come see me 'bout this. Keepin' news like this from me ain't cool, Prime." _ |||

__

__

Optimus forced himself to stay focused on the white mech's saddened expression. From what he gathered from Jazz and Prowl's interactions, they've been friends stellarcycles before Optimus even became a Prime. But what's done is done and Optimus couldn't do a thing about it. He used up countless shipments of Autobot Commonwealth energon to keep Teletraan-1's tracking systems and scanners running overnight in case Prowl's energy signal popped up in Michigan's vicinity since scanning on a national scale proved wasteful. That had been going on since venturing out into Detroit would deplete his own fuel reserves and require him and the rest of his crew to replenish themselves with energon as well. It was a lose-lose situation and this search was spiraling into a cyclical attempt to keep an ill-fated vow to himself. Optimus took one last shot by reaching out to Jazz and will take as much time as possible to get a direct lead that would help him keep his word.

|||"I know and I'm sorry about this. I thought I could lead the squad to Prowl on my own but that backfired...terribly. I made a vow that I would never leave anyone else on my team behind because...they're my family. But I have the feeling that Prowl was a part of your family too. So... have you seen or heard from him lately? Because if you have, lead me straight to him."|||

Optimus said. 

__

Jazz's disappointment shifted into uncertainty but he nodded.

||| _ "Yeah I have...Kinda, but not in the way you and I are talkin' right now." _ |||

__

The Prime tilted his helm a bit. Kind of? How did Prowl contact him if he disabled his commlink and left it here? And wherever he went, there must've been zero communication units in those areas, because Teletraan-1 didn't trace any transmission frequencies in use even when Optimus tried to do a global scan for a day. 

|||"How did you two talk? He left his commlink here and our scanners haven't picked up any transmission frequencies in Detroit or the planet as a whole."|||

__

Jazz cleared his desk and his tired optics widened at this question. 

|||" _...Hmm..I'm thinking about how I can explain it... Hold on." _ |||

__

While Jazz was thinking, Optimus wondered about how he knew Prowl and how they seemed to know each other well when he first landed on Earth with the Elite Guard. Prowl was stellarcycles older than Jazz and apparently a lot of time passed between the two's creation dates from what Prowl implied whenever he had questions about their training in the Cyber-Ninja Corps. However, his upbringing seemed to be a taboo topic whenever it came up all those nights prior to him leaving Detroit. 

Jazz snapped his digits.

||| _ "You know how the Cyber-Ninja are always goin' on about sparks, processor-over-matter and all that, right?" _ |||

__

Optimus nodded. 

|||"With Prowl on the team, how could I not? He always tried to use that trick whenever the Decepticons held us captive. It never seemed to work though. Why?"|||

__

Jazz picked up his stylus and tablet, drawing something with it. He showed Optimus a blue dot connected to a black one.

|||" _ When learning the fundamentals about fighting,  _ **_especially_ ** _ with Circuit-Su, the mind and spark are the things in use more than fists themselves. You're learning how to connect your spark with the bots in your division and growing with them so you can always send your spark's vibes to 'em if they're in trouble even if y'all are lightyears away." _ |||

__

__

Optimus was still confused. Scratching his helm with a couple of digits while processing what Jazz just said.

|||"So did Prowl send you a distress signal with his "vibes" ?''|||

Jazz shook his helm.

||| _ "Not sure. But I had a dream about him a few weeks back. It was  _ **_crazy_ ** _. Don't know what to make of it." _ |||

__

_ T _ he Prime sat back in his chair and sighed. This conversation seemed to go nowhere but maybe this dream could prove useful to the search. All of his clues seemed cryptic beside Prowl's unfinished wills and plans of "honor bound self-poisoning" as well as depictions of Yoketron's spark. Clearly, the mech wanted to die because he missed his master but the spiders crawling over them were throwing him off. Bumblebee's suspicions of Blackarachnia motivating his disappearance seemed so far-fetched. She was gone. After saving the femme from Meltdown's experimentations on her at Dinobot Island along with a dying Bumblebee and Prowl, it was odd seeing Prowl so drawn to the thought of poisoning himself after he was at the mercy of the femme's lethal venom. However, a lead was a lead and Jazz's dream was the only one he had.

To keep his "half-witness" from putting him at another dead end, he gave Jazz a comforting smile and said.

|||"Tell me as much as you can remember."|||

__

\---

__

_ (Recharging Period from Three Weeks Ago... 2 Days Prior to Prowl's Disappearance) _

_ Date: 20XX, 12 October _

_ Surveyed Location: Detroit, Michigan USA _

_ Time: 0100 Hours in the EDT A.M. _

After another long night of making arrangements for an energon shipment to Earth, Jazz finished sorting his latest set of data files and headed off to recharge. The low drone of the ship's boosters permeated the main deck. Jazz never really noticed how loud the ship was until he felt its vibrations with each step to his quarters. He had already bid the twins goodnight and gave Sentinel an obligatory salute two megacycles before the recharging period began. Due to a certain afthole's "energon conservation" plan for the ship, the internal temperatures were set to way below the average temps for space fleets in the Surveillance Sector's conditioning regulations. It was blatantly against the codes for ship housing but to avoid getting another four hundred data files to sort and go through for the next ten million stellarcycles, Jazz kept his mouth shut and adapted to the ship's freezing temps. Occasionally, he'd sneak down to Earth and get a space heater or radiator for the twins since they were still practically protoforms. Unable to fully regulate their internal systems of heating and cooling. Sometimes, Sentinel felt so "energon conscious" that the Steelhaven's engine would completely freeze over, shutting down all systems and leaving the Jet twins in an emergency stasis until he had to turn up the heat to "thaw" the twins out. 

_ If I don't go offline from bein' worked to death first, frostbite will be a close second. He thought. _

__

Attempts to convince the stubborn surveillance captain fell on deaf audio receptors. Jazz quietly walked to the dark hallway on the far left. Only the floor's floodlights and his pale blue optics dimly lit his path to his quarters. His berth room door slowly slid open and the mech immediately went to the record player next to his recharge station. At 0100 hours in the morning, Jazz found it to be the perfect opportunity to learn more about Earth's culture without running into any organics. Despite learning that they didn't spit acidic slime, they still intimidated him a bit with some of their strange customs but he was willing to explore. Earth's music in particular, fascinated him. There were so many ways he could listen to it and many genres to choose from. They even had one with his name! Playing music on the player had a different vibe to it than on those mp3s or phones the organics were accustomed to. The delicate vinyl sounded right to him.

He selected a record and eased into a peaceful recharge.

__

_ " _ Miles Davis...you were one smooth cat. _ "  _

__

Jazz's consciousness always drifted into his equally smooth mindscape. It was like a mental berth room he could always go back to every night. Listening to the soft rhythms and runs of drums and saxophones. A mindscape was different from the cryptic subconscious mind of REM recharge. Thanks to his advanced training in Circuit-Su philosophy, the development of a personalized and self-aware place where he could actively live and feel the energy of the Well of All Sparks, was a sweet relief from hours of draining work. Every time he offlined his optics to recharge, he'd enter his "corner of the spark dimension" as all the other spiritually inclined did.

__

But this time, the peaceful realm of music and a never ending berth room wasn't there. That night, Jazz's spirit was taken into a black vacuum of nothingness. Almost as cold as space itself. The "floor" of his mindscape was nowhere to be found. He was just free floating with no foundation to stand on.

_ "Crazy..."  _ He said looking at the endless sea of black. 

__

The black space slowly faded into a vintage Japanese home in the middle of a field of gold reeds. A chilly void became a large house of red and green. The mech walked up the steps to the red sliding door to enter but something was...off.

As he reached the door handle to enter, something else took the place of a white servo. It was the same size as it but it was brown and it didn't whir when it moved. He looked down at his servos and noticed that two other things replaced them. Jazz's processor searched for the word organics called these appendages.

" _ Hands? Now this is just freaky."  _ He took a brief moment to look in a window on the front porch and to see what else this spiritual dimension had changed. He stood completely in awe. He was a whole different bot. He wasn't even a bot  _ at all.  _ A tall African-American man in a white Marines uniform stood in place of a white and grey mech. The only thing that looked familiar to Jazz was the pale blue color of his eyes. 

He looked at his left hand and saw a black book with gold Kanji script on it. The urge to remember something felt odd to him. 

_ Is this for somebody in the house? Do I know an organic here? _

Jazz instinctively took off the polished black boots his organic form was wearing then rapped on the sliding door. An older Japanese woman appeared. Dressed in an elegant red kimono, greeted him with a bow and a smile. 

_ Who's this femme? Do I need to give it to her? _

Despite his confusion, Jazz bowed in response, then allowed the woman to silently escort him to the dining room, seating him the furthest away from the entrance. 

Several other people were seated at the table, all smiling at him. Jazz didn't sense any bad vibes from them but they all seemed vaguely familiar. 

_ Y'all must be one big, happy family.  _ He thought. Quietly waving at a tiny girl flailing her hand at him.

Then he surveyed the women on both sides of the table. Three of them were much younger than the woman he greeted at the door. Each wore floral yukata dresses with their eyes fixed on him. He assumed they were the older sisters and the small one he waved at wasn't the youngest. Looking to his left, a baby girl sat in a booster seat blinking at the strange man that had come to see them.

The woman that greeted him at the door must've been their carrier. What puzzled Jazz was that there was no food at the table. Just a statue of a golden spider lay in the middle of rows of empty bowls and glasses. He didn't want to be rude. He only wanted to know what was going on. Why they were so quiet and seemed to be prepared for his presence as well as why he felt the need to bring a black book with foreign letters on it.

_ "I don't wanna cramp your style or spoil the mood or anything but...why am I here? Why do I have this book with me?"  _ Jazz said looking at the mother, seated at the head of the table.

The woman kept smiling along with the rest of the sisters. She pointed to an older sister in a sky blue yukata and hair in a waist length braid. 

The young woman held his hand and took him through the living room and into the backyard's sliding door.

_ " _ **_He_ ** _ is waiting for you in the backyard. Waiting for you to deliver what Father had sent to him. Patience still isn't his strong suit but it will be worth the wait for him."  _ She chuckled.

Jazz nervously chuckled back in response. These organics were nice but they were so  _ quiet.  _ The long periods of silence unnerved him. Typically his mindscape would be full of sound. Music, all tailored to his spirit's liking but this space was different. It felt like it was beyond his mind. Outside the boundaries that his spark usually wandered to at night. But he pressed on, watching the girl open the door for him.

It was still bright and sunny. An open field of tall, gold reeds and pink sakura trees seemed to go on for miles. To its right, a river rushed downstream although there was no wind to make it sound so loud. Jazz continued to stare at the beauty of the field. He never would have created something so detailed in his "corner of the universe". Maybe he was in someone else's head. He had been fiddling with astral projection on his own for a bit but he never managed to stay in "mind-hopping mode" for more than a few minutes before his spark got weary. But if he were, things would seem out of place. His environment wouldn't feel so familiar to him like this one did. 

_ Where in the frag am I? _

Then he felt a gentle nudge from the girl.  _ "Go on, Jazz-san! Brother is waiting for you to give him the gift!"  _

Jazz's eyes widened and tried to turn to the girl. "Wait! How'd you know-?"

It was too late for answers. The girl had already slid the door shut. Jazz tried to open the door back up but it wouldn't budge.

_ "Who are all of you?! How do you know who I am?! Why am I human?! Where-?!"  _ He banged against the backyard sliding door.

In the distance of the field, another man was waiting for him. He sat under a sakura tree by the river. The sound of Jazz banging the sliding door alerted him. He stood up and yelled. 

_ "I'm over here!"  _

Jazz turned around and looked at the man by the river. He ran towards him to get a closer look.

_ Who are you? Why am I itching to give you this book, man?  _

When Jazz finally caught his breath, he looked up at the man he needed to give the book to. He was slightly shorter than him but it wasn't like he was towering over him like he did with the ladies in the dining room. He also looked different from the others. The black and gold robe he wore starkly contrasted with the vibrant reds, blues and greens of the rest of the family. His short, neatly trimmed hair shied away from the long, sleek and elaborate braided styles of the women too. But the one thing that really set him apart were the dark violet and gold eyes behind the round reading glasses he wore. 

The man gave him a faint smile instead of the plastered, eager grins of the women inside. He expected something from Jazz like the rest but it seemed more genuine and toned down. 

_ "What? Are you going to play the quiet game too? Go ahead, I gotta feeling I'm gonna wake up from recharge any nanoklik now."  _ Jazz smirked at the man.

The man laughed in response and took the book out from his hand. Lowering the glasses for him to get a closer look at his eyes.

_ "It's nice to see you too, Jazz."  _

Jazz jumped at the sound of the man's voice. He didn't get a good listen when he was at the back porch but now, it was loud and clear. His eyes, his black getup, his  _ voice.  _

He picked at his ears to make sure they weren't playing tricks on him. Then he gasped at him.

_ "Prowler? Is that you, bro?"  _

The man nodded.  _ "In the flesh. Quite literally anyways. I don't know how or why I'm here. Or where, but...it's beautiful." _

Jazz scooped up his brother into a tight hug, almost crushing Prowl upon impact.

_ "Alright! Easy, Jazz! Please!"  _ He cried.

Jazz let go and let all his questions loose.  _ "Prowl, this place is givin' me the heebie-jeebies! First I'm listening to Miles Davis and when I offlined my optics into recharge, I got dumped in this freakshow with some ladies callin' you "Brother". By the way, why are you human? Why am  _ **_I_ ** _ human? Why do you need this book?" _

Prowl held up his hand to stop Jazz from talking.  _ "Calm down, Jazz! You sound ridiculous! I haven't seen any women here. Just that house, this forest and this lake. Now why did  _ **_you_ ** _ summon me into your mindscape? You know I haven't mastered Circuit-Su's astral projection yet. Nor have I with processor over matter. I'm not ready."  _

_ "Wait? You mean to tell me you  _ **_didn't_ ** _ see a bunch of weird sisters and their femme carrier in that house? Have you even been in there at all?!"  _ Jazz felt his head buzz with confusion.

_ "No. I haven't even set foot in it. When I summoned me, I just appeared here by this lake. I sensed your presence here and assumed you wanted to talk to me. Since you never seem to have time in the physical world and with you having more training experience than I, I thought you wanted to talk to me about something urgent while our bodies are in recharge."  _ Prowl replied.

_ "I don't know why I'm in this place either, Prowl! My mindscape is complex, but it sure as frag ain't  _ **_organic_ ** _. It's like a copy of my berth room on the Steelhaven but with more space and an extensive record collection."  _ Jazz said pointing at his organic form.

_ "Fascinating. I am only certain of one thing, after you said that you don't know why or where you're here along with your unfamiliarity with this mental space. Someone or something called us to astrally project into the Dimension of All Sparks but what?"  _ Prowl said.

_ "Okay. But why are we organic and how come that girl wanted me "To deliver what Father sent you"? Is this what this book is for? Is it a gift for you sent by somebody in the Well of All Sparks?"  _ Jazz said, still wondering why the people and places felt so familiar to him.

Prowl gasped at his first question.  _ "Deliver what Father sent you? Did...did Yoketron send us here? If he did, I have to find this place in the real world! It must be our time to rejoin him and our fallen. Did you see or hear from him here?"  _

Jazz cringed at the unhinged gleam in Prowl's eyes. The vibes he was getting from him started to deteriorate like when the girl with the braid led him outside. Whatever hold this unseen force had on him and the rest of the women  _ definitely  _ wasn't a sign from their adoptive father and sacred sensei.

_ "Whoa, bro! Cool your jump jets. I don't even sense Master Yoketron here. What's gotten into you, man?"  _ Jazz slowly backed away from him. He definitely didn't want to come back to this part of the Dimension of All Sparks if it did  _ that  _ to anybody that was brought to it.

The eerie sense of ecstasy in Prowl's smirk remained as he stood staring dead into Jazz's blue eyes. All seemed perfect in this scape until Prowl came in it.

_ "Oh I'm fine, Jazz.  _ **_Perfectly fine._ ** _ "  _ He said in a low voice. With the book still in his hand, he flung it into the river, watching the pages slip out of the book as they flowed downstream.

_ That wasn't supposed to happen. This was a gift. A present from someplace far away.  _

Despite being totally clueless about everything else that seemed familiar, that was the only thing Jazz knew for certain now that things were made clear. This book wasn't a product of his "corner of the universe" nor was the house. They were from somewhere else.

Jazz walked up to Prowl. His back was turned, watching the ruined book, float down the river. Jazz put a hand on his shoulder with the means of comforting him. His brother never really got over Yoketron getting slagged by some low-life bot. Before he could ask Prowl why he was acting so strangely, he felt his brother's body shake violently at his touch. 

A small " _ hiss"  _ escaped from his gritted teeth as he fell flat on his back. Writhing in pain, the hiss became sounds of hacking and coughing. Lilac energon foamed around his mouth, spilling freely across his neck and eyes. His body started to violently twitch and shake the closer Jazz got to him.

Jazz panicked. Looking around for anything. A plant, animal or anything else that could act as an anesthetic agent to calm his convulsing brother.

_ "The slag?! Man, this place is scarier than the Pit itself. C'mon Prowl! Snap out of it! Stick with me!" _

There was no response. The sounds of hissing grew into agonizing groans and cries for help. With whatever strength he had left in his body, Prowl threw his glasses off into the grass as energon tainted tears spilled down his face.

Jazz tried yelling for the women in the house but no answer. No one ran out to help him care for his brother so he did what their father did whenever nothing could help. He sat down in a cross-legged position, mentally begging Primus to save his brother from the thing that was making him suffer so much. Jazz felt a white-hot energy course through his hands and he laid them on Prowl's chest, acting as the Primus-endowed AED to shock him back into consciousness.

A pulse of energy surged from his hands to Prowl as he quietly counted.

_ "One." _

Nothing. The man was still trembling in anguish.

_ " _ **_Two. C'mon!"_ **

A small black wave of energy ignited in Prowl. He was responding. He was coming back.

**_"THREE!"_ ** Jazz pushed a final white surge into Prowl but something went wrong.

The sunny and warm mindscape became cold and desolate. The golden field, house and sakura trees all faded away. Throwing Jazz and Prowl into the same, floorless void Jazz was in when he first entered this pocket dimension in the Dimension of All Sparks but as bots instead of men.

The small wave of black electricity engulfed Prowl into a shockwave of dark energy. The wave made a massive whoosh throughout the free-floating void, flinging Jazz a few feet away from his ailing brother.

Jazz felt coolant trickling down his face as he saw Prowl shriek in a final burst of pain. 

_ He's gone. My brother is gone.  _

Prowl calmly stood floating in the void. Wiping away remaining tears and dried energon foam. Glaring at Jazz with soulless, golden optics reminiscent of the spider statue he saw on the dining room table. His jetpack and door wings became eight golden pinchers while his servos became sharp talons. He approached Jazz with extreme composure and narrowed his optics as they bored into Jazz with hatred.

_ "Prowl, don't scare me like that! If you go offline here then out there you-"  _ Jazz cried.

Prowl rolled his optics and pushed Jazz back away.  _ "Silence,  _ **_little brother._ ** _ I know. That's why my spark rejected your "rescue attempt" with those energy blasts. You were going to send my  _ **_true_ ** _ spark offline. The part of me that remains buried under my façade as a stoic Cyber-Ninja. I'm tired of letting my guard down for bigger and better bots to frag me over for it! I'm tired of being one of the first Autobots to get flung on the pavement or nearly going offline with just one bite! But...most of all, I'm tired of trying to be something I'm not. A fully realized Cyber-Ninja."  _ He hissed.

Jazz floated right back to Prowl and shook his helm. How could he say something so horrible? 

_ "Prowl, you  _ **_are_ ** _ a Cyber-Ninja. Our sparks are tied and no matter what, that bond we share will go beyond the energon in our tubes. Our growth together makes us family. Yoketron said-"  _

The black mech sunk his talons into Jazz's shoulders and screeched.  _ "DON'T...say that name! He's been tugging at my spark for a while now and I don't need anymore of this nonsense! I failed him by allowing myself to get caught up in proving my worth on a vision quest outside of the compound. And by being with those...those washed up slag heaps instead of bringing honor to  _ **_him._ ** _ To us! Now my current conditions present me with the opportunity to get rid of the shame. I can either stay in Detroit to keep pretending I have blue optics and honor. Or I can leave. Go to the place Yoketron has called me to be. Where I can be a bigger,  _ **_stronger_ ** _ mech, worthy of being in his presence as I snuff out my spark in that beautiful place he took us in your mind. No more hiding and no more shame." _

Jazz frantically pushed Prowl away from him and took off his visor.  _ "You're losin' it, Prowl! Can't you see that this ain't you?! This is the grief talking! The insecurity and vulnerable feelings you bottled up in your spark for stellarcycles! You  _ **_have_ ** _ honor. And you have love. Your optics are nothing to be ashamed of and neither are your mistakes or Yoketron's death. You gotta let go of the past, man! A true and healthy spark moves on! Look me in my optics and tell me you understand that!" _

Prowl blinked at Jazz. Unfazed by his words. He stared blankly at the white mech's shoulders as cyan energon spilled from them. Then he chuckled. His laughter grew and grew as he slowly began to tower over the mech in increasing height. His facial features became sharpen and more arachnid. He took a brief pause and whispered.

_ "My place is in the east and among the honorable dead."  _

\---

||| _ "Then I woke up from recharge and been spooked since. Your suspicions are on the spot, OP. Something ain't right about him." _ |||

Jazz said, sighing.

The Prime nodded and looked sympathetically at him.

|||"Yeah. Thank you for telling me that. It must've been hard seeing him so distraught. I know it was a shock to me."|||

||| _ "No problem. I think I know where he is now that everything's comin' back to me." _ |||

Jazz said.

Before Optimus signed off, he replied.

|||"Lead the way, Jazz. I'll be with you every step of the way."|||


End file.
